MLB issues deadline; Daytona sees viewership bump ; Leadership change at National Lax League and four women leaders to be recognized in NY.
Major League Baseball informed the Players Union that if there is no labor agreement reached by Monday, February 28th, baseball's regular season will be officially delayed and players will forfeit salary for every missed game. Now, this announcement comes after the third straight day of negotiations, and there's been little movement, but this announcement will not go over well with the players, and many went to Twitter to criticize the League's stance. The good news, talks between the two sides are scheduled to continue today on Thursday and both sides say they are committed to talking through Monday.
This is your Morning Buzzcast for Thursday, February 24th. Good morning, I'm Abe Madkour. Certainly disturbing news in the Ukraine and with Russia. UAFA has called an emergency meeting today of its top decision makers to discuss moving the Champions League final out of Russia after Moscow attacked Ukraine on Thursday. The Champion League final is scheduled to be played in St. Petersburg on May 28th. So look for news from UAFA on possibly moving that final out of Russia.
A shocker in sports media as the New York Post is reporting that Troy Aikman is expected to leave Fox Sports to become the main analyst for ESPN's Monday Night Football. The Post has learned that Aikman's deal will be for five years and his annual salary is expected to approach or exceed the neighborhood of Tony Romo's $17.5 million deal with CBS. Now, Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported the deal is not signed, but it is near completion. All sides declined any comment, but this could be the first move in a dynamic NFL off season. Al Michaels has said to be leaving NBC for possibly Amazon's Thursday Night Football. Any move by Aikman would create a major free agency frenzy in the broadcast booth. Who will he be paired up with at ESPN? Who takes his spot at Fox? So a number of questions would need to be sorted out, but again, the New York Post reporting Troy Aikman expected to leave Fox and go to Monday Night Football starting next year.
NASCAR feels very good about the start of its season. The Busch Clash in Los Angeles did well, and now it has a solid number for its Cup Series opener as Fox averaged nearly nine million viewers for the Daytona 500 on Sunday. That number would be up more than 80% from last year's number, which of course saw a six hour rain delay in that race. It would be up to more than 25% from 2020, when the race was rained out on Sunday and run on a Monday. Now, compared to the last time the Daytona 500 wasn't impacted by weather, that would be 2019, Fox is actually down about 3%, but it is still a good number for NASCAR and for Fox. Our Austin Karp reports the Daytona 500 will likely be the most watch sports telecast on a very crowded President's Day weekend, that included of course the NBA All-Star Game and the Beijing Olympics.
Meanwhile, the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday averaged just over six million viewers across TNT and TBS, that was up 6% from last year. It should be noted last year's game was a record low figure for the All-Star Game. For comparison's sake, the All-Star Game had direct competition with the tape delayed closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics from Beijing on NBC, that average 6.7 million viewers. So 6.7 million viewers for the Closing Ceremony, 6.28 million viewers for the NBA All-Star Game, and remember 8.7 million viewers for the Daytona 500. Thanks to our Austin Karp again for breaking down those numbers.
Now we continue to see changes to WWE, and we continue to see the growth of event and experience company On Location, and now the two have reached a partnership we're On Location will offer exclusive hospitality packages for WWE's 12 biggest events every year. That'll begin with this July's event at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. It's an interesting deal for various reasons. Remember, On Location is owned by Endeavor, along with the NFL, which has a minority stake. On Location has massive deals for hospitality, tickets and experiences around major events, Super Bowl, The Olympics, the NCAA tournament.
On Location continues to build out its offering of events, and this deal came together after the WWE shadowed On Location's leadership during the recent Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium to see how they operate, because On Location had a huge, huge footprint at the Super Bowl in Los Angeles. Now On Location can add the WWE's big events, such as WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble. So again, the deal marks another interesting business move for the WWE under new president, Nick Khan, and also grows On Location's portfolio under their leadership, Endeavor, and Paul Caine. So a pretty interesting deal to keep your eye on.
Let's move on to Hollywood, because even though there is still buzz whether or not Tom Brady is truly retired, he is making a play in Hollywood. He will produce and appear in a football themed road trip movie called 80 For Brady. The film will feature Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, and Sally Field. It will be handled by Paramount Pictures and Endeavor Content. Now, the movie is the story of four best friends who are Patriots fans, that's Tomlin, Fonda, Moreno, and Field. You get the title, 80 For Brady? So they take a trip to the Super Bowl to see Brady play and they experience all the adventures around the big game. Brady is said to be deeply involved in the project. Production is due to begin this spring. So Tom Brady making a big play in Hollywood, both producing, appearing and being the, I would say storyline, behind the road trip movie 80 For Brady.
We'll end the Buzzcast around people. Changes at the National Lacrosse League as Commissioner Nick Sakiewicz will leave his position to pursue other interests. Now, Nick Sakiewicz has led the National Lacrosse League for the past six years. He'll continue to advise the league until the end of June. Deputy Commissioner Jessica Berman, who was an SBJ 40 Under 40 honorary in 2014 while she was with the NHL, will assume the league's Commissioner title and duties on an interim basis. Jessica Berman has served as Deputy Commissioner since 2019. While Nick Sakiewicz came from the world of soccer, he did a lot at the National Lacrosse League. He oversaw expansion. The league went from nine to 15 teams under his leadership. He also signed new media deals with ESPN and TSN in Canada. He also led a major rebranding of the National Lacrosse League. He called his decision to leave a personal one, but he did not provide any further details about his next move, but he leaves after six years at the National Lacrosse League and Jessica Berman takes over on an interim basis for now.
The annual WISE Woman of the Year Awards is a great event. It's coming back to be an in-person event. It will return to the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City on March 9th. This event was postponed in '20 and '21. They will honor this year four recipient, four great leaders in sports who have done so much for the industry. I want to give a shout out and congratulate the WISE Women of the Year. They are, from the NHL, Susan Cohig, from Walt Disney, Rosalyn Durant, from Wasserman, Elizabeth Lindsey, and from Major League Soccer, JoAnn Neal. These four leaders were selected by WISE members across the country. I wish I could be in New York on March 9th to be with them, but a very well deserved congratulations to these four honorees. They've done so much for the sports industry. So good to see them be named WISE Women of the Year, and they will be honored in New York on March 9th.
So that is morning Buzzcast for Thursday, February 24th. I'm Abe Madkour. Hope everybody has a great day. Please stay safe, stay healthy, be good to each other. I'll speak to you tomorrow.